Field of the Invention
This invention relates, in general, to pivotal joint constructions and, in particular, to a new and useful molecular joint for motor vehicle parts, such as axle struts and connecting rods and which has an elastomer material arranged between the housing and the joint pivot under prestressing and which further includes a recess defined on the interior surface of the housing which provides an improved operation in the direction of loading.
A similar pivotal joint is known from German patent 33 12 090. The convention is to fashion the joint body as a cylindrical sleeve, but this patent declares a configuration in which the joint body on either side of a plane lying in the principal direction of loading has approximately the same height of material between the housing and the pivot, measured in the direction of loading. In this way, a more uniform distribution of the load in the material of the joint body, and, thus, a more uniform surface pressure is achieved. Recesses about the periphery of the elastomer joint body of a molecular joint are known from U.S. Pat. No. 3,147,964, although extending only over a partial region, so that the spring characteristic of the joint body is reduced in this region and different spring characteristics for the section are achieved.
Molecular joints are maintenance-fee, resistant to dirt, salt water, road stoning, etc., and therefore are preferable in the design of trucks, construction vehicles, or the like, especially in the design of buses, due to the precise axle steering and the enhanced driving comfort.